‘The worst year I’ve had’

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

Transcontinental Media

Port au Choix, N.L. fishermen protested the lack of government assistance at their Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) building on June 16.

The protest was a response to the $65-million federal package announced the week before to assist the Atlantic province’s lobster industry.

The Fish Food and Allied Workers’ (FFAW) union has said what’s included in the announcement is not enough. “I don’t know how much more clear we can be about this — the provincial and federal governments absolutely have a role to play in helping our industry, which is so crucial to rural communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, get through these tough times,” said FFAW secretary-treasurer David Decker in a news release. “This year has been disastrous for harvesters in a variety of fisheries across the province and this industry and the people in it will not survive if we don’t get the help that is desperately needed from our provincial and federal governments.”

Port au Choix lobster fisherman Wayne Pike attended the protest and gave himself as an example of how the decline of lobster prices below $3 pound is affecting harvesters. He made less than $6,000 at the eight-week lobster fishery and from that he will subtract some $3,500 in expenses. At the time, halibut was set to open for four or five days at $2.50 pound.

This fall he will also be allowed to catch 3,300 pounds of cod a week for six weeks at a top price of 50 cents a pound, if anyone is buying it. From his total earnings he will also subtract $2,600 for insurance and the cost of any repairs to gear. “I’ve been fishing 24 years and this is the worst year I’ve had,” said Pike.

As with the protesting fishermen in St. Anthony, Pike wants a retroactive five-week Employment Insurance (EI) extension and the ability to base his 2009 EI claim on his landings in 2008.

As it stands, he doesn’t expect to qualify for EI this fall and is wondering how to make it through the winter